After years of widescreen videos being the standard, square videos with a 1:1 aspect ratio have grown in popularity in recent times.
Square videos fill screen space more than rectangular ones. This makes them great for Instagram and Facebook display. Your videos get more attention if they take up more room.
So, how do you actually make a square video?
In this post, I will be showing you how to make square videos using iMovie.
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Part1. A Better Way to Make Square Videos
Actually iMovie doesn’t allow you to create a square video directly. It does, however, allow you to edit your video like you do with other normal videos, and then export to another piece of software like Keynote to create the square shape.
The multi-step process may confuse some inexperienced video editors.
A much easier way to make square videos is to use the Movavi Video Editor program,which is considered as the best consumer video editing software to making square videos in that one can easily turn any existing video to square, or create videos in 1:1 from scratch.
Both beginners and experienced people love the simplicity of the Movavi Video Editor. Just select your file and drag it into the program’s timeline. From there, use the simple tools to customize it until you get exactly the look you want.
The Movavi Video Editor allows you to:
- Trim, cut, and rotate videos to any angle
- Liven your video up by adding text and animated titles, stickers, filters, transitions, and special effects.
- Enhance your video quality using Magic Enhance toolor manually adjust color, contrast, and brightness.
Get Your Free Trial of Movavi Video Editor Here:
#1. How to Turn an Existing Video to Square Using Movavi:
Launch the Movavi program and click on “Full Feature Mode.“
Navigate to your video’s folder on your computer, click on the file, and drag it into the program’s timeline as you see in the screenshot below.
Click on the Aspect Ratio Setting Button currently configured to 16:9 and set it to 1:1 instead. This drop-down menu is visible underneath the main video viewing window.
Flipping a horizontal video to square will add black spaces on the top and bottom of your video, to make your video still look good, you can add some text or branding to fill the black spaces.
#2. How to Create a New Video in 1:1 Using Movavi
If you are going to make a new square video from scratch, just go to aspect ratio setting button and set 1:1 as the default canvas size. Then you can begin edit your videos like normal.
Watch this video for more details about Movavi video editing:
How to Use iMovie to Make Square Videos
It is technically impossible to create a square video directly in iMovie. However, if you want that popular 1:1 aspect ratio, you can still edit your clips in that program and use another one like Keynote to change the dimensions.
Keynote is quite popular as an app for presentation. Its editing capabilities are quite useful too. I’ve spent a lot of time researching the problem of changing video to a square shape in iMovie, and this is the best option I have found that is 100% free.
Getting Started, Edit and Export Your Video like Normal in iMovie:
This is the same normal process you always use to get your videos looking the way you want them to. Export the 16:9 aspect ratio video to your desired save location.
Next, Convert the 16:9 Video to Square in Keynote:
Load the Keynote program and click on “White Theme” to start your new video project.
Double click on the text block automatically displayed on the screen and hit “Delete.”
Navigate to your existing video file you just saved with iMovie, click on it, and drag it to the white window in Keynote.
The video is still in its widscreen format at this time.
Click on “Document” in the corner at the top right edge of the screen. Use the drop-down menu to select “Slide Size” and then “Custom Slide Size.”
In order to create an appropriately-sized square video, type in 1024 for both the width and height. Click “OK” to finish.
This transforms your 16:9 aspect ratio video into a square 1:1 aspect ratio view.
You can now add a title, caption, or other text in the top or bottom empty blocks of the video. Just click on “Text” in the top navigation menu to choose your style.
If desired, you can even change the background color of the open blocks in your square video. Click on “Format” at the top right corner and choose your favorite color.
Another option takes the colored blocks out of your video all together. You can fill the entire space with your video’s imagery. Just grab the corner of your video and drag it to the border of the space.
You can still add text over the frames if you want to.
If you stretch poor-quality video in this way, the picture may turn out blurry. Always film your clips in super high quality and this should not be a problem.
Finally, export the square video file from Keynote. Click on “File,” “Export,” and “Export to Quicktime.” A window will appear asking for particulars about the format and playback experience. Fill this out and click “Next.”
Now you can view your video in Quicktime or most other players and see the beauty of the 1:1 square aspect ratio design option.
Hey, My name is Paul – nice to e-meet you 🙂 I’m a freelance video editor who has over 4 years experiences of making all types of videos. I founded this website to provide step-by-step and easy-to-follow instructions to first-time editors or beginners like you who want to start their journey in video editing.
